]]>Italian car and coach-building firm Pininfarina has combined materials used inside 1930s vehicles with current technologies to produce a limited-edition bicycle (+ slideshow).

Famous for creating luxury tailor-made cars for manufacturers including Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Maserati, Pininfarina worked with bicycle maker 43 Milano to create the Fuoriserie bike using a combination of contemporary and classic materials.

The chromed steel tubes forming the bicycle's frame are hand-welded into shape and finished with a walnut briar-root coating, creating a visual reference to luxury wood-lined vehicle interiors emblematic of the 1930s – the decade Pininfarina was founded.

Further references are made to the company's heritage in the design of the handlebars and the seat, which are both formed from interwoven strips of brown leather – also found inside the iconic Lancia Astura Bocca car, designed by Pininfarina in 1936.

Pedalling turns the dynamo inside the engine, which generates an electric current that is stored in a battery ready to be deployed by the rider whenever needed.

"Pininfarina Fuoriserie bike is a true Pininfarina project," said chairman Paolo Pininfarina. "It blends our heritage with innovative solutions, it is elegant and exclusive but also highly functional. It's a Fuoriserie with an eco-friendly soul."

Other modern features include LED lighting as well as a "plug-in system" allowing riders to recharge their mobile phones whilst on the move.

The bike will be produced in a limited run of 30 units. Pininfarina is also set to unveil its interior designs for Eurostar trains later on this week.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2014/11/11/pininfarina-1930s-style-bespoke-fuoriserie-bicycle-43-milano/feed/1Sergio concept car by Pininfarinahttp://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/11/sergio-windshield-less-concept-car-pininfarina/
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/11/sergio-windshield-less-concept-car-pininfarina/#commentsMon, 11 Mar 2013 18:00:19 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=297855Italian design studio Pininfarina unveiled a two-seater concept vehicle without a windshield at the Geneva Motor Show last week (+ slideshow + movie). Named after Sergio Pininfarina, the designer who led the company for 40 years and died last year aged 85, the car has no side windows either, but does come with a pair […]

]]>Italian design studio Pininfarina unveiled a two-seater concept vehicle without a windshield at the Geneva Motor Show last week (+ slideshow + movie).

Named after Sergio Pininfarina, the designer who led the company for 40 years and died last year aged 85, the car has no side windows either, but does come with a pair of crash helmets.

A Ferrari 458 Spider provides the structural base for the car, while its body is inspired by one of Pininfarina's early designs, the 1965 Dino Berlinetta Speciale.

A vintage Dino is on display alongside the Sergio at the Geneva Motor Show, which continues until 17 March.

"My father would be proud of this concept car because it expresses the aesthetic values that always inspired him – the purity of the lines, the harmony of form, and balance," said company chairman Paolo Pininfarina, adding that the car could feasibly be produced in limited numbers.

At the Motor Show world debut for the Sergio, a modern interpretation of the 2-seater barchetta. As a tribute to the Senator, the stand is also displaying one of his most beloved masterpieces, the Dino Berlinetta Speciale, 1965.

It is named Sergio after the man who led Pininfarina for 40 years and conceived some of the greatest car legends. It is the new, amazing concept car created to celebrate the Life Senator Sergio Pininfarina. At its world debut today at the Geneva Motor Show, the Sergio joins the brand that has so marked the history of Pininfarina: Ferrari.

Universally known as Master of Italian style, the signature of Sergio Pininfarina left its imprint on the whole history of design with his creative genius, from the age of the great bodyworks to modern industry, often anticipating trends. The concept car dedicated to him renews the spirit of the extraordinary achievements under his leadership, translating it into a modern vision in the name of exclusivity, innovation and passion.

The Sergio, in fact, is a two-seater barchetta that looks to the future, very compact, very sporty, racy, pure and sensual. An exercise that Pininfarina decided to undertake on Ferrari 458 Spider mechanicals. Its formal interpretation is absolutely free, in the best tradition of the Pininfarina research which has produced so many Ferrari-based concept cars or unique models now recognised as masterpieces. Its exclusivity and development on the basis of a production car, in fact, sets the Sergio in the tradition of the great Pininfarina custom-made cars specifically designed for "special" clients. It is therefore a real car that can easily be produced in limited series of a few units.

"My father would be proud of this concept car," said Chairman Paolo Pininfarina, "because it expresses the aesthetic values that always inspired him: the purity of the lines, the harmony of form, and balance. Furthermore, he would be happy with this latest concept on Ferrari base, a brand to which we are related by a history that has helped define the most beautiful cars of all time in an evolution that has lasted 60 years and shows no sign of ending."

On its stand in Geneva, Pininfarina has placed the new Sergio next to one of the Senator’s most beloved Ferraris: the Dino Berlinetta Speciale, a unique model presented at the 1965 Paris Motor Show, which led to the lines of subsequent Dino production cars. Since 1967, the Dino has been part of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest Collection and is exhibited along with other historic prestige cars in the Musée de l'Automobile of Mans.

With the new Sergio, Pininfarina confirms its excellence in design, the cutting edge of a Company deeply involved in engineering services, research applied to sustainable mobility and brand enhancement activities.

"This concept," says the CEO Silvio Pietro Angori, "is the best way to confirm the role of Pininfarina as a bearer of the aesthetic values of Italian design in the world and to strengthen the brand name, the Company's real distinguishing feature. Together with design, Pininfarina is highly focused on all the traditional activities aimed at providing vehicle manufacturers with an all-round service: engineering: product development, testing, prototype construction. The enhancement of production assets and know-how is expressed in the creation of unique pieces like the Sergio or limited edition cars realised thanks to unique craft skills gained in over 80 years of activity".